For the last several years, employers have been operating under a cloud of confusion regarding whether provisions in employment agreements that require employees to engage in individual arbitration proceedings, as opposed to class proceedings, are enforceable. Finally, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, has given us an answer, and the answer is yes, such […]

On January 19, 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a decision in The Manitowoc Company, Inc. v. Lanning affirming a 2016 Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruling that expanded the scope of Wis. Stat. § 103.465, which governs the enforceability of restrictive covenants, to include employee non-solicitation, or anti-raiding, provisions. We previously posted a blog about […]

On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) which amends the Economic Espionage Act (18 U.S.C. § 1831, et seq.). The DTSA creates a private cause of action for trade secret misappropriation under federal law and opens a direct avenue for trade secret cases to proceed […]

On April 30, 2015, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin issued its long-awaited decision in Runzheimer International Ltd. v. Friedlen, in which it came to the conclusion that the promise of continued at-will employment is valid consideration for a restrictive covenant. In Runzheimer, the employee had worked for his employer for fifteen years when the employer […]

Almost 99% of today’s information created by businesses is generated and stored electronically. The ability to easily and conveniently store large amounts of data has created a hidden liability that did not exist in the age of when companies maintained its information primarily in paper format. The effect of this hidden liability is twofold. First, […]